Wiener wants to illuminate streetlight issue

The Board of Supervisors must be back in session — Supervisor Scott Wiener has called for a hearing on streetlights.

The supervisor, who takes pride in focusing on bread-and-butter quality of life issues, wants to hear again from the city’s Public Utilities Commission and from Pacific Gas & Electric Co., which together operate the city’s 45,000 streetlights.

Last year, Wiener sponsored a hearing where the public learned that it takes weeks to months to replace the burned-out lights, which are reported at a rate of about 16 a day. The hearing also revealed that PG&E, which is responsible for about 19,000 street lights, takes its sweet time to replace burned-out bulbs; the utility’s lights account for a majority of complaints.

Wiener said Tuesday that he wants an update to the information gleaned at last year’s hearing, including whether PG&E has made any progress toward pledges to increase its investment into streetlights and reduce its repair response time. He noted that the utility recently asked state regulators for permission to increase by 40 percent the amount it charges San Francisco for streetlight electricity.

“Streetlights are an important part of our streetscape and it’s important that they be well maintained and reliable,” he said. “When streetlights fail and aren’t maintained properly, our entire city suffers.”